Junior right side Monica Knight had 14 kills and a career-high 21 digs and senior middle blocker Ashley Legerretta also had 14 kills along with a career-high nine blocks to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a three sets to two victory over George Mason at the Mason Field House on Friday evening in Fairfax, Virginia.
Game scores were 26-24, 223-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-10.
With the win Hofstra inches closer to the .500 mark as they are now 7-8 overall and 1-1 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. George Mason falls to 4-11 and 1-1 in conference action.
Hofstra was led offensively by junior outside hitter Harmonie Calinda who had a solid all-around match with 15 kills, 14 digs and seven blocks. It was Hofstra's strongest blocking match of the season to date as the Pride totaled 14.5 total team blocks, led by the efforts of Legerretta and Calinda.
With the match going to five sets, it marked the first time since the 1998 season that Hofstra's first two conference contests of the season both went the distance. That season Hofstra defeated both Delaware and Northeastern to open America East play.
The match was tight throughout as the first three sets were separated by a total of just eight points before Hofstra sent the match into a decisive fifth and final set with a 25-18 victory in the fourth stanza.
Trailing 15-10 in the first set, Hofstra reeled off eight straight points and took an 18-15 lead and never looked back in posting the narrow 26-24 victory. In another set that was decided by two points, George Mason tied the match as after Hofstra took a 23-22 lead on a kill from freshman middle blocker Taylor Moore, the Patriots notched the final three points of the set to send the teams into the break tied at one set a piece.
In the third set, George Mason would lead big midway through it before Hofstra put together a 9-2 run to close to within 19-18 on an attack error by the home squad. That would be as close as Hofstra would get in the set, though, as the Patriots put themselves on the brink of a victory with a 25-21 win in the third stanza.
Trailing 5-1 early on in the fourth set, Hofstra quickly rallied and scored six straight points to lead 7-5 after a kill from Calinda and a block from Calinda and Legerretta. A kill from senior outside hitter Lauren Engle midway through the set would give the Pride its largest lead at 19-9, before George Mason put a small scare into the Pride and got as close as 21-16 late in the set. Hofstra would send the match into the fifth set as Knight had the Pride's final two kills of the stanza.
Hofstra fell behind early in the final set, trailing 6-2 after a George Mason kill before Legerretta kick-started a 5-0 run that saw Hofstra take its first lead of the set at 7-6.
After a block from the Patriots tied the score at seven, an Engle kill and a bad set by George Mason gave Hofstra its first two point lead of the fifth set. Hofstra would push the lead to three on a kill from Calinda and after George Mason got to within 12-10 on a Pride attack error, the visitors from Hempstead scored the final three points of the stanza to win the match in five sets.
Sophomore libero Jenna Connell added 16 digs for the Pride, while Moore chipped in with seven kills on 16 attempts with no errors, along with three blocks and three digs.
The Patriots got 15 kills and 11 digs from Rebecca Walter and 42 assists and 11 digs from Fernanda Bartels.
Hofstra returns to action tomorrow when they travel to James Madison for a 7 p.m. contest.
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